Chapter 30: The Drill Ends
"What!? It was just a drill!?" Tenya Iida, still worried after calling the school, had run all the way back, only to run into Midoriya's group and learn a truth that was enough to make him shut down completely.
"No wonder the teacher who answered the phone just fobbed me off with a 'Yes, yes, we know...' They were all in on it! And I even got into a huge argument with her... I want to die."
"Haha..." Uraraka gave a dry laugh, trying to console him. "Iida, look at it from another angle. Now that teacher will pay more attention to you, right?"
"If it were any other teacher, that would be fine..." Iida clutched his head and wailed. "But the one who answered the phone was the female teacher named Midnight! She's known for holding a grudge!"
Although Midnight had reformed and become a teacher, her fearsome reputation still circulated throughout the hero world. Stories of her whipping defenseless enemies, or using suggestive moves to publicly embarrass rival heroes and ruin their reputations...
The list was endless. Iida came from a hero family, and he had been specifically warned that upon coming to this school, he must never, ever get on Midnight's bad side. Otherwise, not even All Might could save him.
"My life is over..." Iida turned to gray ash.
"Hahaha! Iida, you actually dared to provoke Midnight!? I'll be sure to light a stick of incense for you on this day next year!" Kaminari was laughing so hard he was doubled over.
Jiro couldn't stand to watch. She felt a little bad for Iida, since she was the one who was originally supposed to make the call. She said coldly to Kaminari, "Someone's got a lot of nerve to talk, especially after wearing a certain kinky item and looking like he was enjoying it..."
"...Don't say it. I kind of want to die too..." Kaminari turned to gray ash.
Afterward, Midoriya and the others returned to the earthquake zone. Just as Midoriya had said, the "enemy" was indeed All Might.
At that moment, his hands were tied behind his back, his body bent backward in an arc and trapped in a large net. Eijiro Kirishima and Mezo Shoji were holding him down.
Bakugo stood in front of All Might, leaning forward and roaring, "All Might, don't you know how dangerous something like this could be!? I wasn't holding back at all! What if I had hurt you!?"
Remembering the battle, Bakugo's heart still pounded with fear. He had pulled the pin on his gauntlet and, after a fierce battle had fully charged it, fired a massive, explosive flame at the "enemy"... Thank goodness All Might was okay. If he had seriously injured his own idol, he would never have been able to forgive himself.
"My apologies, Young Bakugo!" All Might said with an embarrassed smile. His eyes darted around, and he quickly changed the subject to praise him. "Your performance was truly outstanding! Even I was impressed!"
Bakugo froze for a second, then tilted his head back and laughed. "Is that so... Haha! Well, of course! I'm the strongest, after all!"
Kirishima let go, shaking his head with a sigh. "Bakugo, you really can't take a compliment, can you..."
Shoji also let go and walked towards Shoto Todoroki, who was surrounded by the other students.
"Todoroki-kun! Why did you trick us along with All Might!? We were really worried about you!" Before Shoji could even get close, he heard Toru Hagakure complaining as she waved her disembodied gloves in the air.
Hagakure said indignantly, "I even dragged Mr. Aizawa over here to help rescue you, but he just used his injuries as an excuse! I could understand that, but I can't believe you were all in on it together!"
"Ahem..." Shota Aizawa, who was listening nearby, coughed a few times and said in a low voice, "My injuries really haven't healed yet..."
"...I'm sorry." Surrounded by the admonishments of his classmates, even Todoroki couldn't maintain his cool expression. He lowered his head. "It's because All Might asked me to..."
After accepting his role, Todoroki had dutifully played the part of the hostage. He had felt a little guilty when Bakugo was being held back because of him, and his head was still spinning from being thrown around by All Might...
"I'm a little tired. Can I go now?" Hearing this, the students understandingly cleared a path for him. After all, they were just venting their frustration; no one was actually targeting Todoroki.
Besides... if All Might had asked them to be the hostage, none of them would have refused either.
"Shoji-kun, thank you for not exposing me..." Todoroki said as he passed by him.
"Todoroki-kun..." Shoji was surprised. So he had known all along that Shoji had seen through the act.
Phew, I managed to get through that... All Might thought, silently wiping away a bead of sweat. He put on a broad smile and greeted Midoriya, who was walking toward him with his head down. "Yo, Young Midoriya! It's good to see you!"
Midoriya walked over and silently removed the net from All Might, then untied the ropes on his hands and feet.
"Thank you, Young Midoriya!"
"All Might..." Midoriya looked up, his large eyes filled with confusion. "Why did you have that person separate me from the others?"
Although the catalyst had been Kaminari being captured, looking back, Midoriya realized that Amadeus Mask had been targeting him from the start. Most of their conversation had even taken place while Kaminari was unconscious.
All Might crouched down and patted Midoriya's shoulder with a smile. "My apologies, Young Midoriya... If I hadn't separated you, you probably would have seen through my disguise the moment I appeared, right? And that would have defeated the purpose of the training..."
All Might's gaze shifted to Midoriya's bruised arm, and he jumped in surprise. "Young Midoriya! What on earth happened to make you use your Quirk!?"
Midoriya smiled faintly. "It's nothing. I was just too impulsive. But, All Might... who was that masked man?"
"About that..." All Might stood up and looked off into the distance. "I made a promise with him that I wouldn't reveal his name."
With the sunlight casting his shadow long and dark, All Might turned to Midoriya, gave him a thumbs-up, and laughed. "But I can assure you of one thing—no matter what happens, he will never harm you!"
"Bleargh—!"
All Might suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. He wiped it away, then looked up and laughed again. "Everyone, you all did great today! I'll be taking my leave now!"
With that, he took off in a hundred-meter dash, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.
"Hey! All Might's escaping! After him!" The surrounding students, seeing All Might vanish before their eyes, shouted and gave chase.
"Don't think you can leave without giving us an explanation!"
As the sun began to set, Izuku Midoriya pushed open the door to the nurse's office.
"Midoriya-kun, you're injured again?"
Yoshikage Kira, who was sitting in Recovery Girl's usual swivel chair, quickly stuffed the last bite of ice cream into his mouth. He stood up, walked towards Midoriya, and casually tossed the empty container into the trash.
Kira carefully took Midoriya's arm. He enveloped the bruised limb with Hamon and began to lecture him.
"Didn't I tell you? You shouldn't use your Quirk until you can control it properly. The injury might not seem severe now, but over time, it could lead to some permanent damage. Even if you become a hero, it could cause you to make a mistake at a critical moment..."
Midoriya watched as Kira earnestly treated his wound. He blinked, clenched his other fist, and said suddenly, "Class Rep... you're Amadeus Mask, aren't you? You're the one All Might asked for help."
"Huh? Amadeus Mask? Are you talking about Mozart's death mask?" Kira picked up a roll of bandages with one hand, bit the end to tear it, and began to wrap Midoriya's arm. "I'm not a big fan of piano music. I prefer styles like rock."
Midoriya's keen eyes noticed that Kira's fingernails were not long. They were smooth, round, and neatly trimmed.
"Class Rep... why weren't you in class?" Izuku Midoriya asked, his voice trembling.
Kira looked up and smiled. "I was asked to help out by a teacher, but it wasn't All Might. It was Recovery Girl from the nurse's office. She had to take her granddaughter to the hospital to pick up medical supplies, so she asked me to cover her shift here and treat any students who got injured, like you."
Then, Kira shrugged with a helpless expression. "You know how it is. Recovery Girl knows I have a rare healing Quirk, so she's always roping me in to do heavy lifting."
Midoriya knew this was true. Recovery Girl did favor the Class Rep and would often have students from the nurse's office go and get him when she was busy.
...Could it be that Amadeus Mask really isn't the Class Rep? Izuku Midoriya looked at his tired face, and his conviction began to waver.
"Midoriya, you should come back again tomorrow. Recovery Girl won't be back today," Kira said, walking to the desk. He consulted her notepad, wrote out a slip, and tossed a few bottles of common medicine to Midoriya.
"...Okay." Midoriya nodded numbly and mechanically walked out of the nurse's office.
So it seems the Class Rep really isn't the masked man. Then he must be an underground hero like Mr. Aizawa, right?
"Ughh—" Yoshikage Kira glanced at the skull watch on his wrist, stretched, and said wearily, "The Hero Course is the last to finish. I can finally clock out—"
Click. Kira closed the door, and his footsteps gradually faded away from the room.
The window was stained with the colors of dusk. On the desk in the nurse's office, a pair of nail clippers glinted in the sunlight.
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